


Pegasus and the Gladiator

by beta_cygni



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Flirting, Humor, I mean they've made it this far, M/M, Thorki - Freeform, Thunderfrost - Freeform, dumb temp jobs, football player thor, loki will strike me dead for saying that, mascot!loki, might write a porny part two, tiny stupid thing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-26
Updated: 2016-08-26
Packaged: 2018-08-11 05:26:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7878253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beta_cygni/pseuds/beta_cygni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>College student Loki has to take on some shit jobs to save money. This one takes the cake.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pegasus and the Gladiator

As usual, Loki arrived early to the college placement agency- which consisted of a small, rather messy office in the administration building. Many jobs were on a first-come first served basis and he couldn’t take the chance to miss out if something lucrative came about.

Amora briefly glanced up from the computer at the desk.

“Oh, hey.” She greeted, they were well-acquainted by now, “Good thing you’re here; I got something for you…”

“Oh? Do tell.” Loki said with interest as he sat on the chair across from her.

“There is a big football game tomorrow night at the Central Bank Stadium.”

Loki’s spirits sank slightly as he pictured selling beer or dumb T-shirts to a crowd of rowdy sports fans. Oh well; run of the mill job. One night wasn’t so hard to manage.

“Turns out that the home team’s mascot guy broke his ankle and they need someone to fill in.”

Staring blankly, Loki did not quite process the latter part.

“Okay…” He frowned, “What does that have to do with anything?”

Amora bit her lip before continuing.

“Well…  _ You _ get to be ‘Pegasus’ for a night.” She declared with a whimsical flourish.

Loki blinked a few times, then recoiled into his seat as if something rancid had been waved under his nose.

“Huh?? Absolutely not.  _ Pass _ .” He shook his head, chuckling in disbelief.

“Loki…”

“Are you  _ insane _ ? You mean… prancing around in a big dumb fuzzy suit? Seriously??”

“Look, I have your best interest at heart and…”

“I am  _ not  _ being a freaking  _ mascot _ . I can’t even believe I have to say this out loud. What is  _ wrong _ with you?”

“Alright, then,” Amora sighed, “There  _ is _ a big trade show coming next week,” Her voice grew low, honeyed, “Wine and spirits; over fifteen thousand attendees… up to  _ ten percent commission _ .”

Loki instantly perked up. He could absolutely  _ slay _ that gig.

“That’s more like it.” He smiled in relief.

“Only… “ Amora shrugged, “You won’t get to do it if you fall down the priority list. And that’s what’s going to happen if you bail on the mascot job.”

“You’re joking, right?” Loki snapped in outrage, “I’ve been keeping on top of the list since I started; and you know I  _ kill _ at sales, especially if it’s luxury items,” He jabbed a finger towards her, “Your job isn’t to just  _ place _ people; you have to find the right  _ person _ for the right  _ position _ ...”

“Hey, I don’t make the rules about the attendance list. And  _ you _ happen to have the right background for the mascot job:  _ Theater _ .”

Loki nearly choked.

“Are you  _ insulting _ me??”

“No,” Amora insisted, raising a pleading hand, “But look at it that way; it  _ is _ performing arts… I mean, okay, pretty low-level but that’s what’s available. Just bite the bullet. It’s  _ one _ night. Then your attendance remains perfect and you still get dibs on the best jobs.”

A pained silence filled the office as Loki seethed. He couldn’t believe his mood had managed to get this wrecked this early in the day. There wouldn’t be strong enough tea anywhere on the planet to fix this. Eventually Amora clicked her tongue.

“Tsk. Alright, I tried. I’ll ask Evans…”

“ _ Fine _ . I’ll do it.” Loki hissed.

  
****  

  
_ Pegasus _ was a vague approximation of the acid dream of a winged horse; a lumpy creature covered in sky blue acrylic fur and sporting the sorriest little flaps of glittery fabric down its back. Loki’s feelings were swaying between vicious contempt for the artist’s lack of aesthetic sense, and morbid awe towards the amount of despondency- or sheer malice- that was channeled into this creation.

He approached the plush suit with the gloomy resolve of Anne Boleyn stepping to the block. However, even though the queen had lost her head, she had been afforded to do so with poise and dignity.

_ Lucky bitch _ , Loki thought bitterly as his own head vanished under the plastic-eyed monstrosity.

It was immediately hot and stuffy inside the walking sarcophagus and Loki prayed with a string of epithets that the faint aroma wafting from the felt lining wasn’t a biohazard. He did his best not to ponder on how often- if  _ ever- _ this thing had been cleaned.

He lumbered out of the locker room. At least the thick shell muffled much of the sounds so that Loki wasn’t overwhelmed by the din and chaos surrounding him. Furthermore the mascot’s bulk and frightfulness ensured that people readily stepped out of his way. Small blessings were just that.

The cues were pretty simple: Get out on the field and run around like the drunk town fool every time the team scores a goal or the dance music randomly comes on.

It was going relatively smoothly until ‘his’ team’s second goal. Loki could vaguely understand that it had been a particularly spectacular shot- or whatever- by the crowd’s unhinged reaction and the way the _Gladiators_ were running amok and bellowing like agitated silverbacks. However Loki’s gloomy detachment was untouched as he attempted to run through the field while waving his stuffed hoof.

There was a loud- though muffled-  _ THUD  _ and Loki’s reality suddenly went sideways and down. Since he was wrapped in layers of foam, the tumble wasn’t as painful as it was disorienting. It took him several seconds to identify which way was up again while rough pulling at his carapace made it impossible to rise upright. Evidently, the players thought they might have killed their mascot as they kept yelling and pawing at Pegasus, trying to check on the victim inside. Loki was desperately flailing to fend them off and regain some sort of footing as well as keeping the stupid horse head- his very last guard against mortal humiliation- secure over his own. At last, he gathered enough breath and sense to roar well past the fluffy barrier:

“GET THE FUCK OFF ME!”

This seemed to do the trick as he felt himself mostly freed from the herds’ grip.

The crowd cheered at Pegasus’ recovery which he returned with both middle fingers raised high- unbeknownst to them since he was ungulate.

Loki managed to pull through the rest of the game by ways of meditation, methodically visualizing how he would make Amora pay for this. He would break into the shitty little office, hack the stupid outdated PC, print out that fucking attendance record sheet and serve it to her pulverized into her soy-açaí smoothie.

At last it was time for the final run as Pegasus cavorted with the victorious Gladiators, wishing upon each and every one a variety of biblical plagues.

The torture was further drawn-out as Loki waited for the players to finish showering and exiting before going near the changing room. There were no rules obligating him to do this, but finding himself half-naked and face-to-face with some muscle head in a locker room brought back  _ such _ wonderful memories from high school.

At long last it was safe to enter and banish Pegasus to the dank, stinky broom closet hell he had emerged from. Layers of shame and rancor were woven into the thick blue plush, Loki surmised; now his own had been added to the accursed fleece. He shuddered.  

A piping hot shower and much scrubbing made him feel human again, albeit a tired, morose one. Paying his own way through school ought to bring some sense of rugged pride. He had yet to see it, feeling instead like a chump constantly teetering on the edge of ridicule.

He had just slipped his pants on when he heard the locker room door open, startling him. He turned to see one of the players looking back at him. He was  _ large _ ; shaggy blonde hair hastily pulled in a bun, one arm noticeably bulging with the weight of his duffel bag.

Loki’s first impulse was a pang of alarm. Then he remembered he was all grown up, which meant he had left many fucks to give behind a number of years ago (two). He lifted his chin and stared down the blonde player defiantly as he shook his crumpled T-shirt before putting it on.

“Excuse me? You want a picture or something?” He eventually shot as the guy kept gawking.

Beefcake shook his head, as if drawn out of torpor.

“Hm, well actually… You got any?” He rumbled.

His timbre had enough bass to impress Loki before he remembered how irritated he was and also… What the hell was going on? He responded with an annoyed wince.

“Hey,” The guy said, raising his hands in peace, “I just wanted to make sure you were okay… I’m really sorry about running into you. It was a total accident.”

Loki snorted. Oh fantastic; so this was the rhino who had trampled him.

“Well, I’m fine, as you can see.” He said coldly and he finished smoothing his shirt over himself.

“Yeah…” The guy said a bit hoarsely.

A little indicator light came on some panel in the back of Loki’s head but he dismissed it.

“Okay, we’re good here. I won’t sue anyone, in case your coach is worried or whatever.” Loki insisted as the player wasn’t budging.

“No, no; It’s not  _ that _ . I just... Um....”  

He trailed off and Loki was sharpening his most icy glare. Though by the time his eyes had trodden over the player’s tight, red t-shirt and made it to his face- it wasn’t off-putting, there was even a pleasing brightness about it- it had begun melting at the edges.

The blonde man coughed a bit.

“The team’s out partying but I’m just heading out for a beer somewhere… I thought  _ maybe _ … I mean I owe you one.”

Loki took an inordinate amount of time smoothing a few unruly curls behind his ear, pondering the new state of affairs. He realized that a drink sounded mighty good right at the moment. He also felt that the beefy blond deserved some sort of recognition for spurning post-game team-building rituals. Wasn’t extracting oneself from  _ the colony _ a capital sin in jock-world? It was subversive; intriguing.

“What’s your name?” Loki asked coyly.

The player’s smile brightened, which meant it practically glittered.

“Thor. What’s yours?”

Loki paused before ignoring Thor’s query.

“So you’re a  _ Gladiator _ …” He conversed idly as he slowly- but deftly- laced his boots, “Who comes up with the team’s shit anyway? Gladiators were Roman; Pegasus’s Greek.”

Thor chortled.

“Hey, I’m not in charge of the marketing; I just play the game.”

“Hmpf…” Loki shrugged a disapproving shoulder.

“Aw, who cares? Come on;  _ you _ don’t give a crap about football,” Thor laughed.

“Oh, and why would you assume this about me?” Loki said with mock offense. He had stretched his dressing as long as it could be and was finally striding towards Thor.  

“Hey, it’s totally fine with me; I’m not  _ all _ about football.”

“What  _ are _ you about then?” Loki had tried hard not to purr and failed only a little.

He saw Thor’s eyebrows twitch when he stopped a few inches before him, their eyes leveled. Thor was stacked as a stainless steel fridge, but Loki was nearly his height and had excellent posture. Thor’s tongue flicked briefly to wet his lips, then he chuckled. Was that  _ blushing  _ too?  

“I’m about to be a bit  _ forward _ … How ‘bout that drink first?”

Loki’s lips curled into a true smile.

Perhaps he would have to stop at the pretty little bakery near campus and grab a few flowery cupcakes for Amora. He would not tell her _why_ however. That would be the revenge part. 

“I’m Loki.” He offered as if it were wrapped in a silver box with an expertly tied, black satin bow.

He saw from his golden, glittering grin that Thor had accepted it as such.

 

 

 


End file.
